the oh so quiet show

This sign language interpreter is giving it ALL HE’S GOT. And he’s got a lot. I guess this song by Swedish metal band Dead by April demands it.

I must admit I didn’t do any research into other songs about Stonehenge, but it’s really hard to imagine there could be a better one than “Stonehenge” by Vegard Ylvisåker of Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. Vegard asks all the important questions—”What’s the meaning of Stonehenge? What’s the purpose of Stonehenge? Who the fuck builds a Stonehenge?”—and gets no answers despite singing them with such intense face-twisting emotions backed by an epic score. Also, there’s a smoke machine, so you know he means business.

Stonehenge…just…answer him, for Christ’s sake.

Explanation from silent.org.pl:

Here’s what polish AGH University of Science and Technology students do in their free time. I’d like to introduce my another, totally useless device – a musical floppy drives.

…I want a musical floppy disk drive orchestra, and I want it now.

[via @MyInnerFatty]

Hello, rarely-updated blog! My friend Kåre just pointed out this video for Norwegian artist Torgny‘s “The Only Game,” along with the description, “This is what it is like growing up in rural Norway and Sweden. A lot of boredom and cars.” And…that’s what you see in this video, but it’s beautifully directed by Emil Trier and the song sung by Torgny and Maria Due is lovely. (Random thing: Torgny used to he the frontman of hardcore punk band Amulet. I’ve never listened to Amulet, but methinks his latest project is probably more to my liking.)

This video came out last year, but Torgny just released his full-length album Chameleon Days this month. According to pechakucha.no, “The Only Game” is the first of three videos about “young, contemporary Scandinavia.” Here’s the second one for “Big Day” (described by Kåre as “what our end of high school partying looks”):

This trippy frame-by-frame Flash animation by Ori Toor is an accurate representation of what Animal Collective does to my brain, except I never…really knew what it looked like. Until now. Animal Collective world = colors and blobs galore. This was Ori’s final project at the Shenkar School of Engineering and Design; I hope it gets him high marks, or makes his professors go, “Whoooaaaaoouhhhooohooooh.” [via Cartoon Brew]

This is an epic journey set to an epic song. Thanks, Neil Cicierega. And Adrien Brody. And starfish. And the Sun.

The Big Black and Blue

Last night while curled up in a ball under my sheets in my flu-ridden attempt to fall asleep, I put on my earphones and listened to The Big Black and Blue by First Aid Kit. Did it put me in snooze-land? Not so much—I think my body was way too high strung to be put to sleep by anything. But that late night listening session made me appreciate the album more.

First Aid Kit is the Swedish sister duo of Johanna and Klara Söderberg. Johanna is 19 and Klara is 17. Oh god—what was I doing when I was 17? Nothing this good. (Note to self: Find time machine, tell 17-year-old self to do something awesome.) I first got into First Aid Kit about one and a half years ago when they put up their beautiful cover of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” by Fleet Foxes. Just two sisters wearing flannel, harmonizing in the forest (and even though I can’t see what they’re sitting on, in my mind they’re sitting on a giant log). And then I got hooked on their EP, Drunken Trees. And then just a few weeks ago I got their debut album The Big Black and Blue, a few months later than it came out because I’m just not “with it” when it comes to new music anymore, as evidenced by the lack of updates in this blog. Oops.

But better late than never. Initially, the only song that really drew me in was “Hard Believer,” but after repeated listenings I realized, “Oh nevermind, I like the whole thing.” So there’s your review: “I like the whole thing.” Yeah, I’m really selling it. If you like catchy tunes and sweet two-part harmonies and acoustic guitar and autoharp (er, that might only be on one song, but whatever) then you should be down with this.

Here’s another song few yew:

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First Aid Kit – Waltz for Richard

They’re touring around North America in June. Perhaps I will be pulled out of my no-concert-zone. (If anyone wants to see them on June 15 or 16 in NYC, let me know!)

Why would anyone disconnect from this dude? This dude is awesome! You go, Merton. You and your increasingly tightening hood.

I haven’t listened to much new music in a long time. Can you tell? Yeeaaaahhh.

So y’all know this kitty:

Fatso the Keyboard Cat!

…Well, he died a while ago (the video was made in 1984). Fatso, you shall always be in my heart.

BUT THERE’S A NEW CAT IN TOWN, ensuring that the glowing torch of Keyboard Cat shall never burn out:

I hope Fatso is smiling down on the n00b.

[Thanks to Charlie Schmidt for going through the trouble of filming his cats while moving their paws so it looks like they're playing keyboards and then uploading the videos to YouTube so I can be forever amused.]

Happy New Year! …It still feels like last year. Fancy that.

My music listening this year was rather paltry. Despite that, I still had a hard time whittling down my list to 15 tracks (limited to songs that were officially released this year, as far as the Internet can tell me), some widely popular, some less so, and hopefully as least one you haven’t heard before but end up enjoying. The theme of this list: dancey, pretty, or all of the above. Tracks are in order of how I’d arrange them in a mix CD, not by how much I like them.

1. Animal Collective – In the Flowers

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Repeating what I said in January, this is my favorite song off Merriweather Post Pavilion. The 2:30 mark sets off this explosion of elation that could potentially result in dancing, if I weren’t firmly planted in my chair 110% of the time.

2. Kings of Convenience – 24-25

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I wouldn’t place Kings of Convenience‘s latest album Declaration of Dependence above their previous ones, but it shows they’re still the best at playing beautiful, warm harmonies. And they’re still one of my favorite artists to see live.

3. Moderat – Rusty Nails

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I just blogged about how much I love this song. GO LOOKIE.

4. Dan Deacon – Red F

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OH MAN DAN DEACON, YOU’RE THE BEST. I can’t believe there was a time when I thought your music was irritating.

…Nah I lied, it’s really easy to see why his music could be perceived as irritating. Bromst made it easier for me (and probably many others) to get into. My ideal party would be Dan Deacon-powered. And have lots of balloons. That’s what his concert needs: more balloons.

5. Numéro# – Tonton Klaxonne

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This song by Montreal-based duo Numéro# is super catchy, but if it weren’t in French I probably wouldn’t like it as much. Since blogging about it in April I never did bother to look up the translation…oh wait, what do we have here? NOOOO.

6. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead

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Holy hell, I was obsessed with Manners this summer. I was determined to see Passion Pit live, so a friend helped me get tickets to their show in Philadelphia, which was the sweatiest experience of my life. Although it was fun, a lesson was learned: do not go to a concert at the First Unitarian Church in the summer ever again. Or at least bring a towel with you.

7. The Drums – Me and the Moon

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The Drums make me feel ridiculously happy. HAPPY FUN TIMES NAO [jerks around]…yeah.

8. Le Matos feat. Coeur de Pirate – How Do I Let You Know

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I listened to a lot of Coeur de Pirate this year, but as her album came out in 2008 I chose her more recent cover of this 80s-tastic song with Le Matos. More happy dancey-ness.

9. The Octopus Project – Wet Gold

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I’ve listened to The Octopus Project only sparingly over the last few years, which is silly since they’re…awesome. This song from their Golden Beds EP is my favorite.

10. Telefon Tel Aviv – Helen of Troy

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It’s my favorite song off Immolate Yourself. I have yet to listen to Telefon Tel Aviv‘s other music…I should probably do that.

11. Mew – Hawaii

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It took a few listens for me to get into this song, but it became my favorite off No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry… (my second favorite Mew album, after Frengers). Mew has the tendency to write epic songs; I feel like this one fits three acts into five minutes.

12. Phoenix – 1901

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I wasn’t much into Phoenix until I heard Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. CUE THE FUN HEAD BOPPING. If only I could have caught them at Trocadero.

13. Annie – Songs Remind Me of You

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I don’t like everything by Annie, but some of her songs are instantly addictive, like “Heartbeat” and this one from Don’t Stop.

14. Bat for Lashes – Daniel

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It’s dark. It’s pretty. GOOD TIMES. This is the only Bat for Lashes song I really like, but that probably means I should listen to more of her other stuff.

15. This Will Destroy You – Freedom Blade

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As soon as I started listening to This Will Destroy You, I bought all their releases (as should you). Not that there were that many for me to catch up on. This year they released two songs on Split, an EP with Lymbyc Systym. This song puts me to sleep, in the good way that achingly beautiful post-rock tends to do. It would also make a sweet soundtrack to watching a blizzard.